OhForAGreavsie

Wow! What a collection of finishes. There are very few ordinary or lucky goals there. Most are absolutely brilliant for one reason or another. In many cases he finishes not just with power but with precision, sometimes it's great body control or body strength, sometimes quick reactions like with #2 where he adjusts to the late deflection. Massively impressive goal scoring from the lad. Thank you. A useful reminder that if you watch the goals you are only seeing the finishes that worked out.

We're even more conservative than most clubs. For example, it took us two weeks to confirm the sale of Stipe Perica to Udinese after the Italian club had confirmed they signed him. I'm guessing of course but it seems that we wait until we have accredited, physical, copies of all the relevant paperwork signed-off by all parties from FIFA & The FA, through the banks and the lawyers, via any other clubs who have sell on clauses, everybody's agents, all the way to uncle Tom Cobbly and all. Then, and only then, do we announce. And did I mention the insurance companies?

I agree, I think we all would, that there are other areas of need. For me striker is one of them although I'd concede that it is not priority number one. Or even numbers two or three come to that. On the money, I assume you mean 50m net and that seems likely to be in the right area but don't forget we have a high possibility that Remy will leave too if new strikers arrive, so the final number should shade down a bit.

Thank you. As I said in other posts, Diego's supposed desire to return to Madrid has been backed up by quotes from Atleti's president but that he won't force a move is good. It's also good that we should hold out for an appropriate transfer fee. If he stays then well and good, if he leaves I'm fine with that too.

I agree with your point about Lukaku having started at 16 and that making a difference about where his game has reached now. I agree too that he has improved but only in the areas in which players can improve. He has learned how to make better and better use of his attributes but the thing which is always going to hold him below top level, in my opinion, is his touch and that is something which does not improve. Again, in my opinion of course because I know many people disagree with me. They insist that all players can and do improve their basic talent level. I have never had a satisfactory answer to the question i ask when people make that point, but they keep making it. The question? If players can improve their natural talent level, then why isn't everybody as good as Lionel Messi? Why don't they just keep practising until they get there? In truth it's a rhetorical question because everybody knows that all players have their ceiling and that no amount of practising is going to turn Jordon Henderson into Lionel Messi. In my opinion Rom's ceiling is below the level I'd like Chelsea's first choice striker to reach.

I hope his link up is better than Didier's which was, in my opinion, generally weak. That's not to say of course that it was not sometimes good. In that famous Napoli game for example, it was out of this world but The Drog had shortcomings in each of the areas that go to make good link up play; control on receiving the ball, retaining possession by dribbling and accurate passing. There were spells in most games and stretches in each season where I would sooner have described his link up as poor rather than good.

This is very encouraging. I hope you are right. On the other hand it's a bit discouraging that he is behind Lukaku for the national team. I don't want Lukaku back because I do not believe he is good enough so I obviously would not be enthusiastic about signing someone who is not as good as our former striker. I've watched the videos of course but have only seen Bats play 90 minutes once. In that game Marseilles were blown away by Rennes and I was focusing my attention on Dembele & Jed Boga in any case.

I agree, they are usually accurate. I do not know them to be reporting Diego is happy but you are implying that they are and I accept your word on that. Their reports still do not constitute all accounts however so your statement remains wrong and you should stop digging. I don't agree with you for the reasons I gave above but this statement of opinion is at least a proper subject for us to debate. For me, Diego would need to be much better to justify the hullabaloo which comes with him. If he should leave, and if his replacement(s) prove inadequate, then I reserve the right to revisit this conversation and change my mind. That is to say, to admit that you were right and that replacing Costa was a mistake. For now however, I'm all for making the change.

You said all accounts claim that he is happy. That patently is not true. Reliable? What on Earth is that in the land of the transfer rumour? If you ask me, a quote attributed to Atlet's president seems as close as we can hope to come to such a thing. It's very unlikely that the head of a major football club is going to outright lie about about the intentions of another team's player. Maybe he is lying or perhaps the quotes have been misreported or maybe my memory is failing me and the stories only reported the president to have said it rather than actually claiming to be quoting him. Any, or all, of those situations are possible. It is not possible however to sustain the idea that all accounts say Diego is happy. They simply do not and you know it. Edit: Just checked and Enrique Cerezo is quoted as saying Costa wants to return. Major news outlets don't put things in quotes willy-nilly because they know doing so leaves them open to legal action. Further, as far as is publically known, Atleti have not sued any of the organisations which reported those quotes and nor has Diego issued a statement denying that he told Cerezo that he wants to return to Atletico.

Diego may indeed be very happy, we don't know. Being happy is not the same as preferring to be here rather than somewhere else, but we don't know his feelings on that either. What we do know is that many accounts have been published claiming that Diego is unhappy in London, unhappy with his treatment by The FA, and yearning for a return to Madrid. Indeed Atleti's president has stated openly that Diego wants to return. It therefore can't be correct to say that by all accounts he is happy at Chelsea. By some maybe, but definitely not all.

I'm quite happy for Diego to leave. For one thing I'm in the group that thinks it's not a good idea to keep a player who wants to move on, and the reports that he'd like to head back to Atleti seem convincing to me. More importantly however, as I've said before, I don't believe that what Diego brings is worth the baggage that comes with him, and the huge motivation he gives to every group of opponents and their fans. If he truly wants to go then Diego out, two talented strikers in is an attractive solution.

Possibly so or perhaps they are just running a story which was planted by Atleti's negotiators.

20m? Euros?

Thanks Mr E. You'll need to be more specific in your claim that everything I typed was wrong because I'm not with you I'm afraid. I didn't watch Eden at Lille so have no idea of the accuracy of what you say other than that what you say does chime with the impression I formed from watching the all touches videos. That is, that I wasn't impressed by what I saw of Eden in those videos. If you believe that he didn't do particularly well in the period you refer to then I'd say I was right in my assessment, wouldn't you? I did then, eventually, see a video which impressed me and which caused me to say that if that was the player we'd be getting I'd be happy. Yes Real would have bought him on the premise I gave because they'd have wanted him as a starter and he'd have signed. I know you understand the concept of a premise, so what are you talking about? What the hell do I know about Real's historic attitude toward Suarez & Iniesta, and what does it have to do with anything? I consider those two to be the best players in the world apart from the two commonly described as the extra-terrestrials. For that reason I compared Hazard's form, when at his best, to the levels they produce. That comparison is about what they do now, not about what they were doing whenever the heck it is you're talking about. When are you going to stop making yourself sound so ignorant?

Watch out folks, the pope is talking sense this morning. We are definitely living in very strange times.

As was predictable, and predicted. I definitely would.

And yet, if you look at Eden's all touches videos from his Lille days, as I did when he was linked, there were many flat performances. In fact I posted (elsewhere) to say I wasn't over impressed but another poster, a huge Hazard fan, kept linking me new videos and said he was determined to find one I liked. Eventually he did and my reaction was, "Wow, if that's the player we're getting, I'm happy." The truth is we got both of those players, because Eden is both of those players. He has 'meh' days, but he also has the days when he's up there with Suarez and Iniesta as the best of the humans. I made my peace with the 'meh' days long ago. In fact, those meh days are our friends. If not for them, Real would have bought him long ago. If not directly from Belgium, then definitely from Lille. There's no way an Eden Hazard who consistently performs as he did tonight would ever have joined Chelsea; European Champions, or no European Champions.

^^Did we even make one?

1) As per usual we don't know, and probably won't know, for sure that this is true but it looks authoritative. 2) 30% of €15m is not €5m. If they think the clause is about 33% then say so. 3) Every club in the world inserts such clauses whenever they are in a sufficiently strong negotiating position to do so. Selling clubs do not always have a good hand to take to the bargaining table but, when they do, they make the most of it. Nevertheless, there are a bunch of agenda pushers (just say no kids) among TC forum users who tell us that they are far more clever than Chelsea's board because they would always include such agreements whereas our board never does. What evidence do they ever have to justify the boring stream of such assertions they subject us to? No, I don't know either.

That's my situation, and my attitude, exactly. My side of the argument got outvoted. Disappointing, but let's get stuck in to the new circumstance and try to make the best of it.

Who knows what'll happen, but it is the ambition of the Brexiteers to remain members of the Common Market. Under current rules, that would mean a continuation of the freedom to work in any member state. Of course on that score the Brexiteers want to have their cake and to eat it too; they want tariff-free access to the market, but they don't want to accept the free movement of peoples, or the regulations and standards that go with it. For the sake of what will be left of our country, we can only hope that they are right, and that they will be able to negotiate at least some of what they want.

If I had been given the job, I would have watched video of all the players who could realistically do a job for me next season. I would want to make my own judgement about these players, not rely on someone else's. This sounds like obvious common sense to me. It would be deeply arrogant of me to imagine that something which is obvious to me would not also be obvious to Antonio. He has watched the videos.

The new boss must have watched video of all relevant players. If, after doing that, he feels a loan is the right option for Lewis then we must accept that decision. I have not been a big believer in Lewis, but a lot of people tell me that I am wrong about that so I've been trying to be more open-minded about him. To be fair, he did well in Toulon but he needs to make a strong case for himself with his performances next season or time will begin to run out on his Chelsea chances.

Are you getting bored Jay?

It remains to be seen if I am right but I suspect, or should I say hope, that our players have had a chastening lesson and must now realise what Jose, and plenty of us, knew all along; they ain't as good as they think that they are. The newly enlightened squad will not therefore be giving Conte any trouble. If they do then, in the words of The Special One, they must need IQ tests.